One way ticket
by Kayxxx
Summary: Cas is visited by an old friend who hits him with a huge decision to make. The Winchesters are willing to help their feathered friend no matter what he decides is best, but do things ever really go smoothly for these guys? Unfortunately do not own any SPN characters. Happy reading :)
1. Chapter 1

Sam tottered out of the gas station store holding some essentials for the trip and headed for the passenger seat.

"Right, lets hit the road" Dean said spotting his younger brother as he put the pump off the gas back, he opened up Baby's driver door to get inside but stopped when he noticed Cas, who was stood at bonnet of the Impala, not move an inch.

"Cas?" Sam asked sharing a confused glance with his brother over the roof of the impala.

Cas' eyes were fixated on a figure in front of him, the other side of the gas station.

Dean shut the door and head to the frozen angel, "Cas, you coming?" He asked stood beside him.

Cas didn't flinch, it was as though he was completely oblivious to Dean being there.

"What is it Cas?" Sam asked now stood at Cas' other side.

Cas didn't reply.

Sam and Dean followed Cas' gaze to the figure. It was a girl. A beautiful girl, tall, slim, blonde. She too was staring back at Cas. She seemed happy though, not as haunted as Cas did.

"A chick?" Dean asked surprised, "you of all people are delaying our trip for a chick?" He added as he looked back at her, "I mean get it, completely, man…she is something" Dean looked her up and down playfully, "you just gonna stand here and stare or what? Hello?" Cas was still completely frozen, "Well if you're not getting her number I'll take one for the team" Dean flashed a cheeky smile at Cas and Sam and started his way to her.

As he began his walk over to her she also began to walk to him, Dean's confidence sky rocketed. He fixed his hair as he got closer to her and with a smoldering look started with a "Hey…" as she approached but she brushed past him. She had tunnel vision for his angel friend. Dean's face dropped as he turned to watch her approach Cas. She stopped just before him.

"Laila" he said, his voice so deep it was almost a growl.

"Castiel" she spoke, her voice was soft, she smiled at him for a second and then pressed her lips against his. Sam stepped back awkwardly and looked toward Dean who had a frown of both confusion and shock on his face. Cas wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up as their kiss became more passionate, he turned and gently placed her on the hood of the impala as they continued to make out, he made his way down her neck.

"Hey!" Dean yelled, "Stop that!" He shouted as he made his way over, "Hey, not on my baby!" He shouted angrily as he pulled Cas back by the shoulder causing the two to part.

"Sorry" Cas told him as he pulled her down from the hud, he still couldn't keep his eyes off her.

"Sorry?!" Dean spat out as he checked the hood for any dints.

Sam looked at Cas and his lady friend and an awkward silence fell over them, "So Cas, care to introduce your _friend_?" He asked awkwardly, putting emphasis on the word friend.

"Oh" Cas looked away from her for the first time, "Sam, Dean, this is Laila" He announced, "Laila this is Dean" he gestured towards him.

"Dean Winchester. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I have heard a lot about you" She smiled as she held her hand out for him to shake.

Dean looked at her confused but shook her hand regardless, "You, too" he spoke awkwardly.

"And this is Sam" Cas turned to introduce her to Sam.

"Sam Winchester, the one who set Lucifer free" She stated as she looked at him. Sam sighed deeply and suddenly found the ground interesting.

"Also the one to throw him back in his cage" Cas added in his defence.

"Nice to meet you" She shook Sam's hand.

Cas then turned back the Laila with a beaming smile, "you're beautiful" he told her, "your vessel, it's perfect" he looked her up and down.

"Wait a minute, vessel?" Dean spoke out confused, "what the hell is going on here?" He demanded.

"Laila is an angel." Cas announced.

"You've had an angel girlfriend this whole time and didn't think to mention it?!" Dean's jaw dropped.

"She isn't my girlfriend" Cas told him.

Dean looked at him confused.

"Angels don't get into relationships with one another Dean" Cas added half laughing at the thought, Laila too found it amusing.

"We are more like what you humans call 'soul mates'" Laila informed them.

"But…she isn't your girlfriend?" Sam asked Cas confused.

"No" Cas replied.

"Okay, so why the heck where you two just sucking the faces off each other two minutes ago? Last time I checked that's not what you do with a friend" Dean told him.

"I suppose we are more than friends…we are in love" Cas spoke out now confusing himself, "I've spent thousands of years with Laila by my side in heaven" he told them.

"…What?" Dean snapped as confused as ever.

"We are in love, as much as us angels love humanity or earth or our father…but its not the type of love you humans experience" Laila told them, "However that is in our angel forms, once we are in human vessels the type of love we experience in heaven is transformed as human love" she explained.

"So you're not together but you're in love…but not the type of love that means you're together, but when you're on earth that love turns into the type of love two humans would have?" Sam asked confused as he rubbed his temples trying his hardest to understand this riddle-like situation.

"Yes" Cas and Laila spoke at the same time.

"So she's your angel girlfriend" Dean spoke out making his earlier point again.

"Well, yes I suppose right now, in our vessels, you could say that" Cas explained awkwardly.

"Laila first things first, you could've chosen a vessel that is more in his league" Dean told Laila with a smirk implying she was way too hot for Cas.

"I don't understand" Laila replied confused.

"Thats a joke Laila, humans do that a lot you'll get used to it" Cas explained, "this is Laila's first time on earth" Cas informed Sam and Dean.

"Who said I was joking?" Dean shrugged causing Sam to laugh. Cas rolled his eyes.

"So what now?" Sam asked awkwardly, "We still have a case to jump on" He added.

"We can still jump on it" Cas smiled as he took hold of Laila's hand and led her to the backdoor of the car.

"You travel by car Castiel?" She asked surprised.

"When I'm working with Sam and Dean yes although it has proved to be incredibly time consuming" He replied as he opened the door.

"Woah, wait, so you're just bringing her along?" Dean asked looking at the pair.

"Is that an issue Dean?" Laila asked as she took a step towards him, she looked him in the eye and Dean almost melted before her.

"No, no...no issue at all" He smiled at her, Cas gave him daggers as he allowed her to sit inside first. He knew Dean had the hots for her, heck anyone would, Dean was right to point out that her vessel was incredibly attractive.

A few hours of driving had past and night had crept in, the trip was mainly filled with classic rock playing, Dean's choice of course, they were still only half way to their intended destination for the case they were on.

"Right I'm calling it! We're pulling into the next motel" Dean announced with a yawn, switching off the radio.

"So we are travelling across the country to kill a few vampires?" Laila asked bluntly.

Cas thought about it and tried to think of a better way of putting it but she had put it perfectly, that's exactly what they were doing, "Yes" he replied.

"This is something you do a lot Castiel?" Laila asked confused.

Cas looked at her, "Well it's been pretty quiet the last few months so I've jumped into working with Sam and Dean" he told her.

Laila looked forward, "Winchesters, you do know me and Castiel could get there and have them dead within minutes, right?" She asked.

Sam and Dean exchanged glances, "Yeah, well this is what we do we're-" Laila cut Sam off.

"Hunters" she spoke out finishing his sentence.

"Yeah, we find cases and chase them down" Sam told her.

"Thats our job" Dean added as he made a turn for a motel.

"Seems like a lot of work for something we could do so easily, why not leave it to Castiel?" Laila spoke out of confusion.

"It makes them happy, hunting gives them a purpose, a feeling of importance" Cas explained.

"Thats not why we do it" Dean snapped in defence.

"We save lives" Sam added.

"And that too" Cas whispered with a smile.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? Cas said it's your first time on earth, why?" Dean asked looking at her in the rear-view mirror.

"Castiel is aware" She informed them.

Cas looked at her confused, "Actually I'm not, I was going to ask" He told her as Dean pulled up outside a motel.

"You've forgotten?" She asked surprised but her expression was pained.

"Forgotten what?" Cas asked with a frown.

An awkward silence fell in the car as Laila looked away from Cas.

"I'll go check us in" Sam broke the silence as he got out of the impala.

"I'll come" Laila followed him.

"Get a separate room for the two love birds Sammy!" Dean called as he got out.

"That won't be necessary" Cas told him shutting his door behind him.

"What? The angels don't fancy doing the devils dance?" Dean teased with a smirk. Cas didn't reply. "Trouble in paradise?" Dean asked.

Cas kept his eye on Laila from over Dean's shoulder as she disappeared inside with Sam.

"I need to know what her mission is Dean" Cas told him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiii everyone, hope you are all enjoying your read so far...anyone have any ideas what Laila's mission may be?! I'm sure you'll find out soon enough ;) Please let me know what you guys are thinking of this story by leaving a review as it helps give me an idea of where to take it and I do just love hearing what ya'll are thinking (good or bad). Enjoy chapter two, love, Kayxxx :). **

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One way ticket - Chapter two.

They got settled in the motel room, it was your average room, nothing particularly special or bad about it, just average. Sam and Dean sat at the table, both with a bottle of beer in hand. Sam had his laptop in front of him as he continued to research for the case they were chasing. Cas stood in between them leaning his weight on a cupboard with his arms crossed as he watched Laila who sat at the edge of one of the two beds and flicking through the TV, amazed. His attention was suddenly brought to Sam who sighed deeply.

"Damn. Another death" He turned his laptop to face Dean.

"Damn that vamp moves quick" Dean shook his head as his bottle met his lips and he took a swig.

"Maybe its more than one" Sam suggested.

Dean put his bottle on the table "What you thinking? A nest?" He asked.

"Maybe" Sam shrugged.

"Then I'm gonna get my four hours" Dean announced as he downed his beer and stood up to get himself ready for bed, "What are you two doing? I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on." He winked at Cas, "You getting a room or what?" He asked Cas, Sam looked up at him.

"I'm not sure" Cas replied quietly.

"Well, _be_ sure" Dean told him with a yawn.

Cas stepped towards Dean, "Dean, I need to know what Laila is doing here, she is one of heaven's stationary angels there has never been a plan for her to come to earth, I don't understand" Cas spoke lowering his voice.

"Well you can talk about it in your own motel room, I need sleep Cas" Dean whispered back impatiently.

"Dean" Sam spoke warning his brother not to be so harsh on the angel who was obviously asking for their help, "What do you think it could be Cas?" He asked quietly as he stepped toward them.

"It _has_ to be important for them to send her" Cas spoke in dread.

Dean really just wanted sleep, he turned to Laila, "So, female Cas, welcome to earth" He started forcing out a smile.

"Thank you" She smiled as she stood, leaving the TV remote on the bed.

"What mission has the man upstairs set for you then?" Dean asked acting friendly.

"That is something I have to talk to Castiel about" Laila replied as she looked at the angel.

Dean looked at Sam and Cas and then back to Laila, "Great, here, take this and check yourselves in" He took some money out of his pocket and shoved it in Cas' hand with a pat on the back.

"What is it Laila?" Cas asked; worry evident in his voice.

"We should do this privately" Laila took a step towards him.

Cas stood his ground, "What ever you have to say you can say in front of Sam and Dean" he told her sternly.

There was a moment of silence as Laila looked at him before she spoke, "I'm here to take you home Castiel" She told him with a smile.

"Home?" Cas replied confused, he almost added _'but I am home'_ but luckily cut himself off as he realised that wasn't true.

"Back to heaven" She informed him, "Castiel your mission is long over" she added, "you have been on earth for many years now, you are no longer needed here, you are needed in heaven."

Sam and Dean looked at Cas in shock, they did not see that coming.

"No" was all Cas could think to say.

"What was your mission Castiel?" Laila asked.

Cas looked towards Dean helplessly and then back to Laila.

"You do remember it?" She asked.

"Of course" He told her as he took a step towards her, "it was to pull Dean from perdition" he stated.

"That was in 2008 Castiel" She stated carefully.

"But other things came up, the seals were being broken, Lucifer rose, the apocalypse happened, I couldn't leave. I was needed here." Cas spoke raising his voice slightly.

"Exactly, _'was needed' _Castiel" She told him, "Now you are travelling for hours in a car to kill vampires with hunters" she added, "You are needed for much greater uses Castiel"

"Like what?" Cas asked.

"God has his plans" She told him.

Cas shook his head, "As an angel we are to help humans, to watch over them, to look after them. Laila, I do that with Dean, and Sam too" Cas explained.

"You have befriended them Castiel, that was not apart of your mission, Sam and Dean can do fine without you" Laila told him.

"What if I say no?" Cas asked raising his chin, standing his ground.

"You know what will happen Castiel" She replied easily.

Cas looked towards the ground.

"What will happen?" Dean asked Cas.

"He will be thrown down. Stripped of his grace" Laila told Dean.

"He'll become human" Sam stated throwing a glance at Dean .

"For good this time" She added, "Cas' downfall is that he loves humanity more than any other angel, he has killed his brother's and sister's for humans-" Cas cut her off.

"Angels are made to love Laila-" She cut him off quickly.

"Not enough to betray their own brothers and sisters when they are needed" Laila told him. She took a step towards him, "All Dean Winchester has to do is click his fingers and you'll be at his side, no matter how busy you were in heaven. Do you not remember the civil war?" She spoke.

Cas looked toward the ground, "I remember it too well" He mumbled, ashamed.

"Humans are your weakness Castiel" she told him, "and it's time to come home" she held her arm out, her palm facing Cas as a white light began to glow from her.

Sam and Dean stood tall in protection.

"No!" Cas called out as he stepped behind Sam so she couldn't get to him with her angel magic.

Laila sighed deeply and put her arm down, "Castiel, this is ridiculous, you are an angel of the Lord. We could have brought you back as soon as you dragged Dean from hell but we didn't, we have given you long enough and now God wants you back, he has plans for you" Laila walked towards Sam and Dean.

"Wait, there has to be some other way?" Sam asked in desperation as she reached them.

"There isn't" She told them.

"Woah okay just hang on, just hear him out you can't just show up out of nowhere and take him" Dean spat out.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do" she told him as she looked over his shoulder, her face dropped. "Castiel?!" She called.

Sam and Dean looked over their shoulders to find Cas had gone.

"Well…this is awkward" Sam exchanged confused glances with Dean.

"He's gone" Laila huffed.

"What you gonna do now eh?" Dean asked as his phone beeped in his pocket, he pulled it out to find a text message off Cas, _'Call me, do not make Laila aware.' _

"I have to call a friend" Dean announced flashing a knowing glance at Sam, Sam looked at him confused.

"Is that friend Castiel by any chance?" Laila asked.

"No" Dean replied quickly, "its a, a hunter friend probably calling about a case" He lied.

"Then please, get to work" Laila smiled.

Angels really were gulliable as hell.

Dean left the room and walked to Baby as he pressed his phone towards his ear, "Cas?" He whispered as he answered.

"Dean." Cas replied.

"Jeez man you couldn't have left it, I dunno, 30 seconds before you text?" Dean spat out sarcastically, "where are you?" He asked.

"I'm not sure" He stopped as he looked around him, "Scotland" He concluded.

"Scotland? The country Scotland? The place with the Haggas and the bagpipes and the funny accent Scotland?" Dean asked confused.

"I panicked" Cas replied with a sigh, "Dean I may be warded but she will find me and she'll take me back, she won't stop until she does" He added with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Yeah well I doubt the first place she'll check is the land of kilts so I think you're good" Dean replied, there was a silence that followed, Cas didn't understand what he meant by _'land of kilts'_.

"Anything we can do?" Dean suggested.

"Just keep her in the dark as much as you can" Cas pleaded.

"Okay" Dean replied, there was a beat of silence before he asked, "are you okay Cas?" He asked.

There was another moment of silence before Cas spoke out, "I don't want to go Dean" he replied honestly.

"Why?" Dean asked, "Cas you're an angel, Laila is right you can't spend your whole life on earth" he spoke bluntly.

"Dean this has taken up the smallest percentage of my life, I think you're forgetting how old I am" Cas half laughed, "I have been living for a long time before you and I will be living for a long time after you" he told him.

"But still Cas, earth is pretty shitty, your purpose is to serve god isn't it? Go, do that me and Sam will be fine" Dean reassured him.

"Earth is beautiful Dean and humans are by far God's best creation. I like it here" Cas admitted, "If I go back to heaven I would have to say goodbye to all that, and to you too" He added.

"Jeez Cas I have had to say goodbye to everyone in my life, Bobby, My mom, My dad, Jo, Ellen, Kevin! There's so many, but there's a difference with you Cas you won't be dead." Dean told him.

"I don't think you understand Dean yes I won't be dead but it _will_ be goodbye, goodbye forever. Once I'm gone my vessel will be destroyed and I will not be back on earth, not in your lifetime anyway" Cas informed him with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Oh" Dean replied as he thought, "Well, that's gotta be better than losing your grace becoming human again right?" He spoke looking on the bright side.

"Being human wasn't so bad" Cas replied as if he'd already toyed with the idea.

"Cas being human is crap, you have to work a dead end job eight days a week just to get by and even then that's barely enough to get you by, you work your way into an early grave spending your whole life looking forward for Friday and for what? For you to be on your deathbed to be happy that once you're dead you'll finally be out of all the debt you've built up your entire life just trying to live. I don't want that for you Cas" Dean told him.

Cas groaned, "um, but Dean, there aren't eight days in the week, just seven" Cas spoke out confused.

Dean smiled, of course that's the only thing that he would find important about Dean's speech, "exactly Cas".

"You and Sam aren't spending your life like that, you get by okay" Cas told him.

"Me and Sam are criminals Cas" Dean laughed slightly referring to the credit card fraud they do as their only way of making money, that and hustling people at pool and poker, "I'm just saying being human isn't all swings and roundabouts, it's more depressing and barely getting through" Dean explained.

"I've seen it myself Dean, I understand being human is anything but perfect" Cas replied agreeing with him.

Dean took a deep breath, "Maybe it's best you go home Cas" he told him carefully, the angel didn't reply, "Cas?" Dean asked.

"Yes Dean?" Cas replied.

"If you do go back upstairs" He stated, "…If I pray will you still hear me?" He asked closing his eyes, hoping to get the answer he wanted to hear.

"Yes" Cas replied, "I wont be able to answer or visit…but, yes I will hear you" he told him sincerely. "The voice says I'm running out of minutes Dean" Cas informed him their phone call would have to come to an end, "I have to keep my distance for now Laila will be expecting me to come back to you and Sam" he explained.

"Okay" Dean replied looking over at the motel room.

"Stay safe Dean" Cas told him though it was more an order.

"Always" Dean replied with a hint of sarcasm, with his job it was near impossible to stay safe.

The phone went dead and Dean made his way back inside. He unlocked the door and put the keys down on the cupboard as he entered. He shut the door behind him and looked up to find Sam tied to a chair with blood pouring from his nose.

"Sammy?!" Dean called out in panic as he rushed over to him but was stopped by Laila who stood in between the two holding her angel blade.

"I'm okay Dean" Sam reassured him.

"What the hell is going on?!" Dean roared in protection.

"You will pray for Castiel to come to you or I will kill your brother" Laila threatened as she held her blade up to Sam.

Dean looked at Sam and sighed deeply, "son of a bitch".


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

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Dean stood in the motel room looking across at his tied up, beaten up brother and the angel that stood in between them. He knew Sam would be working on getting himself loose, it was something they had pretty much mastered over the years in their line of work. Laila had ordered Dean to pray for Cas to come, using Sam's life as a threat. Praying for Cas was the last thing Dean wanted to do, he'd promised Cas he'd help him and help keep Laila in the dark. It was a clever move by Laila, he had to admit. Everyone knew Cas would be there for Dean pretty much instantly if he prayed.

"Not gonna happen, sorry" Dean replied stubbornly, he had decided to prolong this as much as he could.

"You're willing to let your brother die for an angel?" Laila asked surprised.

"No, but you wouldn't kill him" Dean told her, "You think Cas would willingly come up to heaven with you if you kill Sammy?" Dean asked confidently.

"It's a chance I'm willing to take" she told Dean as she made a cut along Sam's chest causing him to call out Dean's name in pain. Damn she meant business.

Dean closed his eyes tight; his brother's painful cry causing him to wince as if he were the one being cut, "Okay okay!" Dean yelled and Laila pulled the blade away from Sam who looked at him breathing deeply with tears of pain in his eyes. Laila was not messing about. Dean sighed deeply and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry man..." he started, "Castiel, I really hope you've got your ears on wherever you are because I really need your help right now, I'm still at the motel-" he was cut off as Cas appeared before him but collapsed straight to the ground, "Jesus Cas, you good?" He asked as he rushed to help him to his feet.

"Get off me" Cas growled angrily as he pushed him off.

"What's wrong with you?" Sam asked from his chair as he watched Cas struggle to get to his feet.

"He's intoxicated" Laila spoke taking a step towards him.

"This was a trap" Cas realised as he finally got to his feet and noticed Laila.

"I'm sorry Cas, she was going to kill Sammy I-" Cas cut Dean's explaining off.

"You should've killed her" Cas slurred as he leaned back against the wall for support.

"Well I didn't think you'd want me to because you two have like, _a thing_" Dean told him, "you know, bro code you don't kill your friends girl" he joked slightly.

"You should've killed her" Cas repeated himself as he looked Laila in the eye, "don't ever endanger yourself for me Dean"

"Look he's here, we got him here now can you let me go?" Sam pleaded from his chair.

"No" Laila replied sternly still facing Cas.

"You _will _let him go" Cas spoke through gritted teeth as his angel blade slid out of the sleeve of his trench coat and into his hand.

"Cas you're drunk" Dean took a step towards him warning him not to fight, he definitely would not win this one he could barely stay upright.

"Let Sam go Laila" Cas warned as he stepped towards her but Dean stepped in between the two.

"You are no use to me intoxicated, what example will it show our father and the angels in heaven if I take you back like this" Laila told him.

"Well I am known as the rebel angel" Cas half smiled before he turned serious again, "Then go without me Laila" Cas told her.

"This is my mission Castiel and I will _not_ fail" Laila spoke raising her voice as she held out her arm and gestured toward the wall causing Dean to fly towards it with a groan of pain.

Cas looked at Dean and then back to Laila before he gripped his blade tighter and held it up before him.

"This is why I need to take you back Castiel, you're willing to kill me, of all angels, for a human?" She asked, "you're brainwashed Castiel, you're broken" she concluded, "you've spend too long with humans to the point you're starting to feel Castiel, you feel guilty and happy and angry and you joke, angels don't joke. Many angels are saying you're a lost cause but I believed in you Castiel, I believe we can rehabilitate you. They sent me because they knew you could trust me more than anyone else" she explained.

"I don't trust you Laila, not anymore" Cas launched his blade towards her but with just the flick of her wrist his blade flew out of his hand.

"I will not fight you Castiel, not like this" Laila told him, she looked at Sam and Dean and then back to Cas, "I will be back for you" she spoke before she disappeared. Dean fell to the ground from being pinned to the wall and then quickly moved to untie Sam. Cas took a seat on the nearest bed and placed his head in his hands.

Sam stood and wiped the blood from his nose as he looked towards Cas.

"Hey, Cas, are you okay?" He asked.

Cas slowly looked up at him, "this should never of happened, I've brought this danger on to you" he told them.

"What? _This_?" Sam gestured to the chair he was tied in, "That's just a normal Monday night for us Cas you know that by now" Sam laughed as he used a towel to dab the blood on his chest where Laila had cut him, he winced slightly due to the pain but he'd had much worse.

Cas stood up, stumbling slightly due to his drunken state, "Woah, take it easy yeah?" Sam held him by his shoulders to help steady him. Cas pressed two fingers against Sam's forehead, healing his wounds instantly. "Cas…" Sam started with a sigh.

Cas bent over to grab his angel blade but again stumbled, "Look just stay put yeah?" Dean ordered as picked it up and handed it to him, "I'm guessing it was happy hour in Scotland?" Dean stated as Cas swayed back and forth trying to keep himself upright.

"Scotland?" Sam spat out confused.

"I knew she wouldn't take me if I was drunk" Cas admitted showing there was at least some sense in his madness.

"Ah okay, so you just have to become an alcoholic and you won't ever have to go back upstairs" Dean announced sarcastically.

"That isn't very practical Dean" Cas slurred in reply, he spotted a bottle of whiskey on the table and made his way over to it.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock" Dean snapped.

Sam grabbed the bottle before Cas reached it, "I think you've had enough" he told him; Cas gave him daggers.

"Cas she's gonna come back" Dean started, "You need to make a decision" He told him.

"I have made a decision" Cas turned to face them both, "I'm staying here" He concluded with a hiccup.

"Without your grace? As a human?" Sam asked surprised shooting a glance at his older brother.

"No, with my full grace." Cas corrected him sternly, "I'm staying here exactly as I am…maybe just less drunk" Cas joked.

Dean looked at his very drunken friend and could see nothing but vulnerability and helplessness. Cas had made his decision and that was that. Dean took in a deep breath, "Then we need a plan" He held his head up high, Sam nodded and flashed a smile at Cas.

Suddenly Cas' eyes widened as his attention was drawn over Sam and Dean's shoulders to a figure that had appeared in the bedroom.

"Hello boys"


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay of this chapter, a lot has happened since I posted the last one, I even managed to meet Misha Collins! (He's fab) Hope you enjoy this chapter, was just wondering if anyone is reading along with this story and would like me to continue with it? Even if just one person replies I'll continue. Just don't want to keep posting if no one is enjoying lol, lots of love xx

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Chapter 4

The King of hell stood before them with his hands in the pocket of his suit pants, the brothers turned to face him and seemed less than impressed.

"Moose, Squirrel, Cassie, it's been a while" Crowley smirked at them.

Dean rolled his eyes "What do you want Crowley?" He snarled. With everything going on with Cas at the current moment, the last thing they needed was throwing Crowley and his scheming ways into the mix.

"Word on the street is the lost puppy doesn't want to go home" Crowley looked towards Cas. Dean threw a glance over his shoulder at his angel friend.

"News travels fast" Cas slurred in reply.

Crowley tilted his head in confusion, "are you, drunk?" He asked. Cas didn't reply but it was obvious from his stance that he was.

"Why are you here Crowley?" Sam urged with a hard frown etched on his face.

"Look boys, Cassie, I can help" Crowley told them.

"And why would _you_ want to help _us_?" Sam asked raising his eyebrows.

"Because I have a heart of gold" Crowley replied causing everyone to scoff.

"We don't need your help Crowley" Dean told him.

"Okay then, leave your lovely feathered friend to hide back in my brilliant hometown Scotland and never be able to see you two again" Crowley replied as he held his hand up to click himself away.

"Wait!" Sam called out, Crowley froze, "how can you help?" He asked.

"Sam" Cas and Dean spoke out simultaneously.

"It won't hurt to hear him out" Sam shrugged.

Crowley smiled at them and began, "I've heard the man upstairs hasn't taken too greatly to you favouring the Winchester's over his oompa loompas with halos am I right?" He asked Cas.

"Yes" Cas replied reluctantly.

"But you want to stay down here, because you've fallen in love" Crowley paused for a moment, "You love humanity so much it hurts, right feathers?" He took a step towards him.

"Whats your plan Crowley?" Dean urged, he didn't like him taunting his friend.

"Your feathered friends don't like you hanging around with Sam and Dean? Simple. Kill them." Crowley told Cas with a shrug.

Cas' patience dropped as quickly as his angel blade slid from his sleeve once more, "I've wanted to do this for a very long time" Cas muttered through gritted teeth as he charged towards Crowley with his blade and pinned him up against the wall holding his blade just beneath his chin.

A smirk grew across Crowley's face, "Got to say Cassie, you're kinda hot when you're all hot and bothered, and drunk" He whispered as he pouted his lips for a kiss.

"Bite me." Cas growled as he pulled his arm back to plunge his blade through Crowley's chest.

"Awful whiskey breath though" Crowley told him, "You should sleep this off" he pressed two fingers against Cas' forehead and he plummeted straight to the ground.

"Cas!" Dean yelled out as he and Sam rushed to his aid.

"What have you done to him?" Sam panicked as they crouched down beside the unconscious angel.

"He's fine" Crowley sighed as he made his way over to the bottle of whiskey on the table and poured himself a glass, "like I said he should sleep it off" he smirked as he took a sip.

Sam and Dean picked Cas up and placed him on top of Sam's bed, Dean shot a death stare over at Crowley as he watched the brother's struggle. Cas was a lot heavier than he looked especially with the dead weight of his limp body.

"It's cute, really it is, I'll be up for a spoon, dibs on little spoon though" The demon took a sip of whiskey.

"So your great idea was for Cas to kill us?" Sam asked as the brothers made their way over to were he was sat.

"Yes" Crowley replied easily.

"You know Crowley you really are as dumb as you look" Dean told him as he crossed his arms.

"Look his little angel friend comes down, he makes an offer that he can stay on earth if he shows that he can kill you two, Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt and everyone's happy" Crowley explained with a shrug.

"And we're dead" Dean added.

"Well, yes he could kill you two, but would it really be you two he'd be killing?" Crowley asked taking another sip.

"What?" Sam asked confused.

"Cut through the bull before I cut through your throat" Dean warned, he now had hold of Cas' blade.

"Oh Dean, you do know how to make me blush" Crowley teased, "Lets just say I have something in my back pocket. I am owed a favour but whether I'd waste it on you two I'm still debating…" He trailed off.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Shifters" Crowley topped up his glass. Sam and Dean looked at each other now understanding Crowley's plan. "You let some shifters wear a replica of your meat suits, Cas sends them into oblivion and gets all the time he wants down here, comprende?" He suggested as he raised his eyebrows.

It actually did sound like a good plan, and dare they say it a quite straight forward plan, that was if Cas could get Laila to agree to the terms of Sam and Dean dying in the first place, but this was Crowley, there was bound to be more to it.

"What's the catch?" Dean asked looking down at Crowley warily.

"There _is_ no catch" Crowley Shrugged.

"Oh so what? You expect us to believe you're doing this out the goodness of your heart are you?" Dean scoffed.

"Oh, okay, you got me" Crowley held his hands up, "I need your help" he told them.

Dean sighed, "Here we go" he rolled his eyes.

"I've gotten myself in a bit of bother downstairs, being crowned King of Hell again sent the power straight to my head and let's just say there's a lot who want me dead" he explained.

"You do know we're on that list too right?" Sam asked.

"Oh Moose, I love it when you get all feisty…it touches me right were my bathing suit goes" Crowley teased once more.

"How the hell are we supposed to help you with hell?" Dean spat out.

"Simple, you let me hide out in that little kiddy fort of yours while the dust settles and we'll call it square" Crowley looked up at them.

"You're running away? From hell?" Sam laughed.

"Oh no Moose, I'm going off the radar, I'll let those bastards think they've won but oh they won't know what's hit them. They'll learn never to mess with the king of hell, I'm going to give every single one of them a slow, torturous death that will allow them with every second leading up to their petty, pathetic lives coming to an end to think and scream about how they should never. NEVER, have chosen to doubt their leader." Crowley's face turned red with anger as he downed his whiskey.

"Trouble in paradise?" Dean smirked.

"Mutiny" Crowley muttered as he looked down, he looked haunted by something, "Honestly, I just need a snow day, out of office, time to breathe and I know no one knows of your place" He told them as he looked up.

"And how do we know we can trust you?" Dean asked.

"Oh boy, I've told you before, never trust anyone" Crowley spat out, "But as I've also said before, I stick by my deals" He told them sincerely.

"What do you think?" Sam asked Dean who looked over at passed out Cas on the bed, "should we run it past him first?" He gestured to Cas.

Dean shook his head, "He'll only say no" he replied.

"How about we get Crowley tied down in the bunker and go from there" Sam suggested.

"Woah woah, wait" Crowley stood up, "Tied down in the back room of the smelly library again? I'll pass" he scoffed.

"What you think if you're coming to stay with us you'll have free range of the place? Hell no. We're keeping you exactly were we can see you, at all times." Dean laid down the rules, "never trust anyone, right?" He added with a smirk.

Crowley thought for a moment before he spoke, "Damn, I was hoping we could be roomies squirrel, sleepovers every night, braiding Moose's hair, playing twister with you and feathers. Seems less appealing now knowing I'll be strapped down…and not in the sexy way" Crowley told them.

"Its our way or no way Crowley" Sam spoke sternly.

"Okay" Crowley nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! Ugh we finally have a date for the beginning of the end...10th of October! Don't think my heart is going to be able to take it! Anyways here is chapter five, I hope you enjoy. If there is anything in particular you would like to see happen in this story or a scene you'd like to see play out, or more of a certain character let me know and I'll see if I can fit it in, love hearing your thoughts as always :) x**

* * *

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty" Crowley spoke as Cas came to.

"Where am I?" He groaned still drowsy.

"How's that head of yours?" Crowley asked.

It was only when Cas went to feel his head did he realise he was strapped to a chair, "what's going on?!" He panicked looking over at Crowley who too was strapped to a chair.

"Your Winchester pals have finally turned on you!" Crowley told him mincingly.

"They wouldn't do that" Cas replied confidently as he looked around the room; he recognised it.

"Okay you got me" Crowley smirked, "we're at their little bunker, they weren't sure what state you'd be in when you came to so decided it's best to strap you down with me" he confessed. "Welcome to rock bottom" Crowley was loving every moment of this.

"Well I'm fine" Cas huffed as he struggled in the straps, "what's going on? Why are you here?" He asked confused, "I was going to kill you" Cas spoke slowly with a frown.

"Yeah, thanks for that by the way, very flattered" Crowley replied sarcastically, "I mean you were completely plastered, thought I'd help you sleep that off-" Crowley was cut off by the sound of the door to the room unlocking, "Oh, here come the cavalry" he announced.

"Thought we heard voices" Dean spoke as he pulled open the doors.

The brothers walked in and stood just before the angel and the demon.

"Cas, you good?" Sam asked as they examined him from afar.

"Yes" Cas huffed, "what's going on?" He urged.

"We have a plan to keep you down here, on Earth" Sam told him with a reassuring smile.

"Oi, it's my plan" Crowley yelled taking full credit.

Cas looked at Crowley and then back to the brothers, "To kill you? I've already heard it and there is no way-" Dean cut Cas off.

"Just hear us out" He told him, "if you can convince Laila to have you stay if you kill us-" Cas cut Dean off.

"No way Dean!" He protested angrily; he was sick of hearing this ridiculous idea.

"Will you let the squirrel talk!" Crowley butted in impatiently.

"Crowley has shifters that could take up our look, you kill them in front of Laila she thinks that we're dead, we move on with our lives" Dean explained.

"Shape shifters?" Cas frowned up at Dean.

"Yeah Cas" Sam nodded.

Cas thought for a second, wondering whether this was a joke or not, even though he had been on earth for a good few years now he still found it hard sometimes to figure when a human was joking. Seeing the seriousness on all three of their faces he replied honestly, "They can be dangerous, they are not trust worthy at all" Cas shook his head.

"They will abide by my rules, they seriously owe me one big time" Crowley explained shooting a snarl at Sam and Dean.

"Your rules?" Cas scoffed, "why would you want to help me anyway?" Cas questioned; that was what baffled him the most.

"As much as I don't want to admit it, you're no good to me in heaven." Crowley told him.

"What do you think?" Sam asked raising his eyebrows.

"It's worth giving it a shot, right?" Dean added as the pair looked at Cas awaiting his response.

"It's too dangerous, shifters are not to be trusted and I've worked with demons before and they've given me every reason under the sun not to trust them again" Cas disagreed shooting a snarl at Crowley.

"You're the one playing the dangerous game here Cassie, everyone knows if you get on the wrong side of a demon it won't be pretty, but get on the wrong side of an angel? That's straight up suicide" Crowley spoke out reminding him he was already in a bad situation with Laila, "If you have a better idea please, do, let us know" The demon announced smugly.

Cas looked back towards Sam and Dean, "Where will you be when the shifters are around?" He asked the brothers.

"Laying low". Sam told him.

Cas sighed deeply as he thought for a moment, "Theoretically it could work, but the risks are far too high, for one I feel like Laila would know the shape shifters aren't you" Cas shook his head.

"Well you didn't" Crowley spoke out amused.

"What?" Cas asked confused as the door behind Sam and Dean opened and in walked Sam and Dean, _the real_ Sam and Dean. Cas looked at the four men in front of him completely baffled.

"Hey Cas" Dean who had just entered smiled.

"Dean?" Cas asked he looked like he'd just seen a ghost, "Wait..." he spoke as realisation shattered over him.

"Sorry Cas we just wanted to see if you could tell" _real_ Sam explained as he began to unstrap Cas from the chair.

"We strapped you down in case you could tell and attacked them or something" Dean told him.

"You're real Sam?" Cas had to confirm before he stood himself up.

"Yeah Cas" Sam laughed, "it's freaky I know" he added.

"How can I tell?" Cas asked as he stood up but took a step back from Sam, he shot a glance at the other Sam and the two Deans.

"Because it's me Cas" Sam reassured him.

Dean walked over to him, "Come on man" he went to pat him on the back but Cas stepped back, "you good?" Dean asked as Cas looked at the two shifter Winchester's.

"What's wrong Feathers? Don't know who to trust?" Crowley watched on amused.

"Cas it's us, it's me" Dean told him with a friendly smile, but Cas still seemed uneasy, "Look" Dean took out a knife from his jacket and turned to the shifters, "hold out your wrists".

"No way!" Shifter Dean snapped.

"You do _whatever_ they ask." Crowley threatened.

Shifter Sam and Dean exchanged glances before they rolled up their sleeves slightly and Dean sliced across their wrist, the silver knife caused them to call out in eminence pain as it burned their skin, smoke came from their wrists and disappeared into the atmosphere.

"Silver" Dean told Cas.

"It's us Cas" Sam told him.

"Okay" He nodded.

"Back in your chairs lads" Dean announced as they tied shapeshifter them up next to Crowley, "we'll be back for you when we need you" he told them.

"Get used to the feeling of being used guys, nothing new when working with the Winchester's" Crowley called as real Sam and Dean left with Cas following behind.

"You really want to work with shapeshifters? You usually hunt them down and now you want to work with them?" Cas spoke as soon as they were out of the room and followed the brothers through to the kitchen.

"Look Cas, sometimes you have to work with the bad guys in order to get to the worse guys" Dean explained.

"And Laila is one of 'the worse guys'?" Cas asked.

"Well right now she is yeah, she's trying to take you back to heaven" Sam told him as he leaned back against the table.

"It is her mission" Cas replied almost as if he were defending her.

"She threatened to kill Sammy Cas" Dean reminded him as to why she was currently one of the worse guys.

Cas looked up at Sam and remembered the blood pouring from his nose that Laila had caused. Crowley causing Cas to black out had his memory a bit shady but all was coming back to him pretty quickly.

"And you trust them?" Cas spat out raising his eyebrows, "these shape shifters?"

"Yeah" Dean shrugged causing Cas to scoff, "look they've cooperated so far" he added.

Castiel paused for a moment, taking in the effort his friends had already put in to helping him out without him even knowing, "If this is going to work Dean I never want to see you and them together again, it's far too dangerous" Cas told him protectively as he stepped towards him.

"Okay Cas calm down" Dean turned for the fridge and got himself a beer.

"Could you really not tell the difference?" Sam asked baffled.

"They're shape shifters Sam. Shape. Shifters. They take up the entirety of your form, how on earth am I supposed to tell difference?" Cas snapped, he really had been shaken up by seeing duplicate versions of his best friends.

"Well that's a good thing isn't it? Laila won't know, we didn't know if angels could see their true forms like you can see demons, we didn't mean to freak you out so much" Sam explained.

Cas shook his head, "Like I said I don't want you together all it takes is one mistake and-" Dean cut him off.

"What you're scared you might kill us by mistake?" Dean laughed taking a sip of his beer; Cas gave him daggers.

"Look, what do you think of the plan Cas?" Sam asked.

"Its very…" he trailed off as he thought of the right word, "elaborate" he concluded. He thought for a second before he spoke out, "I do think Laila _would_ be more conditioned to the fact of me staying on earth if I wasn't with you, some angels are meant to walk the earth just to keep things in order; I could do that. But how would I kill those shifters without them looking like shifters?" Cas asked confused, "If we're doing this I don't want anyone dying, not the shifters, not Laila, no one" he told them.

"You'd shoot them with a gun with normal bullets, not silver ones. As for Laila, you're just gonna have to hope she stays out of this one" Sam told him and Cas nodded taking a mental note.

"Do you think Laila would believe it though?" Dean asked.

Cas took a deep breath, "If everything goes to plan then…yes, us angels, especially the ones new to earth can be very gullible. We see the very best in everyone and I highly doubt she'd think I'd go to this extent of a lie" Cas spoke out admittedly.

"So tell us more about Laila" Sam started, they had to figure out this plan.

Dean sighed deeply, "She was so hot until she turned psycho" he shook his head in disappointment taking a sip of his beer. Sam rolled his eyes.

"She is an Angel of love, so naturally she has an attractive ora. She is the one all the Cherubs report back to once they've been to work down here" Cas explained to them.

"What so she's in charge of the cupids?" Dean asked seeming interested.

"You could put it that way yes" Cas replied.

"Nice" Dean smirked as a compliment to Cas for being the one to get close to her.

Cas sighed deeply, "It seems very unlikely that this plan will go smoothly" he shook his head, he couldn't even bring himself to think about killing Dean even if it wasn't the real him.

"We'll plan everything, we'll have plan B's and C's Cas don't worry" Sam reassured him.

"I dont know…" Cas thought about it.

"You can pull it off, I'm sure there's many times you've felt like killing us" Dean teased as he walked over to his brother and handed him a beer.

"…Dean" Cas sighed, he couldn't be more wrong.

"Look man, you don't seem too into this. It's a tricky plan if you're not 100% on it we should leave it" Dean noticed leaning back against the table next to Sam, "If you just wanna go back upstairs, I don't blame you, heck I get it" he told Cas, Sam looked at his older brother confused.

"Dean, we've spoken about this-" Cas started but Dean cut him off with a sudden anger to his voice.

He stepped towards him, "Yeah we have, but you're gonna have to be on your own for this one Cas you said it yourself, we can't be around when these shifters are and if something goes wrong we won't be there to clean up your mess, not this time. If things don't go to plan you're either gonna end up going back upstairs or dead, or worse, you could lose you grace again Cas" Dean spoke out passionately pointing his beer towards the angel as he spoke.

"I don't see how that would be worse than dying Dean" Cas muttered with a harsh frown.

"Yeah, well, I do" Dean shrugged as he took another sip of his beer, "You may have forgotten what it's like to be human but like I've told you, its not worth staying down here for. If it comes down to it Cas I want you to chose to go back upstairs. You're not made to be human Cas, I don't want that for you, not again" He told him honestly.

"Yeah, well, for once Dean, this isn't about what _you_ want" Cas spoke sternly shutting Dean down, "We're doing this" He told the brother's confidently.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me Castiel" Laila smiled as she sat opposite him at a table in a little cafe Cas had chosen, "Alone" Laila added.

Cas just smiled at her awkwardly.

"You are alone aren't you Castiel?" Laila looked around her warily.

"Yes" He assured her, "Sam and Dean are on a hunt, they're probably half way out of town by now" he added.

Laila nodded, "It's nice to see you not intoxicated" Laila told him. It was definitely brave of him to meet up with her sober considering their last meeting. He was overly aware of how badly she wanted to go through with her mission to get him back to heaven.

Cas looked down at the menu in front of him looking at the different food options, silently observing…he made a mental note that the salads were on the complete opposite side to the burgers, he smiled slightly to himself thinking of how Sam and Dean would be looking at completely different sides of the menu if they were here now.

Laila placed her hand on top of the menu in Cas' hand and guided it towards the table to get his attention "Castiel, I'm hoping what you want to talk about today is that you're coming home with me? Back to heaven? Where you belong" Laila smiled, her smile was beautiful and he couldn't help but notice.

Cas swallowed hard, "Well, actually, I…" He began, he looked up at her raising his eyebrows, "about that, I, um-" He was cut off by a waitress who stood with a very forced but all the same gleaming smile on her face at the edge of their table.

"Coffee?" She asked.

An awkward silence fell over the three as both angels stared at the young waitress, unknowing of how to respond, lucky Cas' time down on earth with the Winchesters helped out here.

"Um, please" Cas smiled at her and she filled up a cup.

Laila shot a confused glance at Cas through the girls arm as she poured, "Its good" Cas mouthed to her.

"Any for you?" The waitress smiled at Laila.

"…Yes" She replied, stone cold. They watched as the waitress poured.

"Thank you" Cas shot her a smile and opened his mouth to continue with what he had begun saying before the waitress had interrupted but she interrupted once again.

"I saw you checking out the menu earlier, anything take your fancy?" The waitress smiled at Cas.

Cas looked back up at her, "Um, no just the coffee is fine, thank you" He told her.

"Okay" She smiled, "you know, we're known for doing the best coffee in fifty miles, home brewed" she told him making conversation.

Cas looked towards his cup and back to the waitress, he had the sudden urge to try it to please her, he took a big sip, but being an angel and not drinking much made him forget how scorching hot coffee could be. He quickly put his cup down before he dropped it and swallowed the boiling liquid down with a wince, "Hot" he stated as he looked up at the waitress.

"Funnily enough it's not the only hot thing at this table" The waitress spoke with a wink, Cas quickly looked up at her awkwardly, "Let me know if you change your mind about anything taking your fancy, I finish at six" She told him and turned off to continue work.

"The complexion in your cheeks has turned red Castiel" Laila told the embarrassed angel across from her, "what did she do to you?" She asked confused.

"That was…that called a flirtation" Cas informed her as she looked back across at her.

"I don't follow?" Laila replied tilting her head in confusion.

"It's unimportant" he told her shaking it off, "Laila" He began, "I don't want to go back to heaven" he spat out, Laila's calm caring expression changed quickly to harsh and angry.

"Castiel-" He cut her off.

"I believe I'm needed down here, to watch over humans, to help them" He told her.

"By humans you mean Sam and Dean Winchester" She replied.

"No" He replied, "I can help more than just those two Laila, I could stay in hospitals and heal where I can, or perhaps I could-" Laila cut him off.

"Castiel you are lying to yourself and me if you say you would spend time away from the Winchesters if you were to be kept down here with all your grace" She stated bluntly, "they're a distraction".

Cas paused a moment to think, "Is there any possible way of me staying down here Laila?" He asked with a sigh of defeat, it came out more as a plead to her.

Laila examined his face.

"I know you say I'm needed in heaven but surely I'm needed here more? I've helped save the world before" he told her, "Our father told us to love humans more than we love him and I do Laila, I think humanity is beautiful and I'd like to stay and live amongst them, they fascinate me" he smiled as he spoke.

"If you love humanity so much, how about I take your grace and you can become one again?" Laila suggested.

"I wouldn't want that" Cas replied honestly, he shuddered at the thought. Yes, he had told Dean that he wouldn't mind becoming human again but if he were to be honest; he hated it the last time, it was the lowest he'd ever managed to feel and couldn't bare to feel that powerless again. "Yes, I love humanity but I would like to help them Laila, not become one, why when I have the power to help would I choose to lose that power to be like those I wish to help?" He asked putting forward a very valid point. "Look, I understand in the eyes of heaven I am not something they are proud of and I know my mission was to pull Dean from hell but I now believe my mission is to stay down here and help, I know you see me working with Sam and Dean as something awful but I must say working with them and seeing them saving people shows me there is so much good to do on this planet and I can continue to do that" Cas had never felt so passionately about something before and he didn't realise how passionate he felt until right now.

"Castiel hunters are no friend an angel should have, you shouldn't be going out on hunts with them, that is not what you're made for" Laila told him.

Cas looked at her in disbelief that after all he'd just said to her she was still blinded by the idea of the Winchesters hanging around. Sam and Dean saw _'the shifter plan' _as their plan A, little did they know Cas saw it as plan B - his plan A being to plead with Laila and hoped he'd get through and avoid having to go through killing his two best and only friends — he took in a deep breath and looked her in the eye. Pleading was no longer an option. "I understand" he told her, "But if I said I was not going to see the Winchesters if you left me down here with my grace?" He asked.

"We just couldn't trust you to do that Castiel, yes you are needed down here and I'm sure you could do wonderful things for humanity but the Winchesters do not allow you to do that, all Dean Winchester has to do is click his fingers and you'll cater to his every need" Laila replied sternly.

Cas looked over at the humans who occupied the cafe just living their lives, some were there to eat and drink, others were there for work but every single one of them had a story and he admired that so much. He loved everything about Earth, every sound, every smell, every smile on every human's face that they always managed to find again no matter how much darkness they were faced with in their lives; humans were the strongest species he'd come across because they never give up; and neither would he. "What if the Winchesters weren't around?" He asked looking back to Laila.

"I don't understand" Laila tilted her head in confusion once again.

Cas took in a deep breath and paused before he spoke, "I mean, what if the winchest-" he cut himself off, he hated calling them that, "-Sam and Dean, what if they were dead?" he asked.

"Dead?" She asked surprised.

"Yes" Cas nodded sheepishly looking up at her.

"And who would be the one to make that happen then?" She asked.

"…Me" Cas mumbled looking down at the burger section of the menu on the table.

"You could do that?" Laila questioned, she knew how much these men meant to her fellow angel friend.

His deep blue eyes met hers once more, "Sam and Dean are far from innocent, they've killed many times before both humans _and_ angels" Cas stated, something Sam had told him to say and although it was the truth he knew they meant well, they were the best people he had ever met and he knew every death on their hands had a good reason. He argued this to Sam when he brought it up but Sam silenced him telling him just to say it, to not be on their side for once.

"What are you saying Castiel?" Laila had to check what he was getting at.

Cas took in a deep breath and thought back to what Dean had told him to say, but he could barely bring himself to say this one, he was never the best at lying and this statement couldn't be further from the truth, he closed his eyes "I'm saying…I think maybe the world would be a better place without Sam and Dean Winchester in it" he managed to get it out, he opened his eyes and looked at Laila. "As you say, they're a distraction, they're dangerous, I mean they're the ones that opened the gates of hell, they allowed Lucifer to rise, they brought on the apocalypse, I dread to think what else they could be capable of, Honestly? They're bad news…" That part was Crowley's doing.

"You're finally seeing the Winchester brothers how the rest of us see them Castiel. Good work" Laila was clearly impressed

Cas nodded and looked back up at her sheepishly, "So, if I kill Sam and Dean can I stay on Earth?" He asked, looks like his rehearsed lines went well.

"I don't see why that would be an issue, we were all concerned that you've been brainwashed by these men, that you did everything for them and would kill for them, even die for them, but now I see that you can see them the way we do" Laila explained, "I'm sure heaven would be happy for you to stay if the Winchesters were not around" she concluded.

"Okay" Cas replied, "then let's do this" his voice quivered.

"How are we doing this?" Laila asked.

"Right now they're on a hunt, we just need to get them to us-well, me" Cas explained.

"More vampires?" She asking knowingly.

"Demons this time" Cas told her which wasn't a lie they were currently with the King of hell, "if this is going to work I need to get them here for a good reason…" he acted to think.

"You're going to kill them here? In a cafe?" Laila asked concerned.

"No, good thinking…we need a motel" Cas threw some money down on the table for the coffee, placed his hand on Laila's shoulder and within a millisecond they were outside of a run down motel.

"I'll check us in" Cas smiled as he pulled out a wallet and head for reception.

* * *

Unknown to both Laila and Cas Sam and Dean had already checked into the motel Cas had decided to use for this plan. It was Dean's idea, just incase things got messy they could jump in to help. They told Cas they really were going on a hunt out of town because he was so uneasy about having them and the shifters anywhere near each other he would never agree to them even staying in the same city never mind the same motel - one room away from where everything was going to go down. Sam took some persuading to go along with this part of the plan his reason being he figured they would be useless, they knew there would be a fight between Cas and the shifters that was part of the plan…so how exactly would they know if anything went wrong by listening out through a wall? In the end he figured it would at least bring some ease to his older brother who was clearly worried for their friend although he tried his best not to show it. They were now in a parking lot at the back of the motel sat in Baby with the two shifters in the back seat.

"You got the plan down right?" Sam asked shifter them.

"Yeah" Shifter Dean replied rolling his eyes, they'd been through this plan a million times they just couldn't wait to finally be out of dept with The King of Hell.

"Good" Sam replied, he'd never get used to seeing two Dean's, "Now we should get a call off Cas any minute now and then its just a waiting game, you know to wait-" Shifter Sam cut Sam off.

"An hour to an hour and a half before showing up to make the story that you were out of town more believable, that when we get there to make sure Cas gets straight to the point and don't fight him because you won't want us to hurt your precious little pet angel." Shifter Sam spoke looking out of the window, "Oh, and to play dead once we're shot" he added as he made eye contact with Sam in the rearview mirror, Sam quickly looked away.

"Listen, smart arse" Dean started as he turned to face them, "if you try anything funny I promise you I will hunt you down and give you a slow, painful death and I will not stop for the rest of my life until all of you shifter bastards are dead and I will let every single one of them know you're the reason for it just before I slice through their hearts with this lovely shiny silver knife" Dean smiled as he pulled out his knife for them to see, running his fingers across the blade.

"If we try anything funny we have The King of Hell to answer to, no offence Winchesters but you two don't seem that threatening anymore" Shifter Sam replied.

"Anyway, hand over the keys twinny, this is my car now" Shifter Dean spat out smugly sitting forward in his seat.

Dean span around and held the silver knife to the throat of his shifter, "Listen you son of a bitch, if there is even a scratch on my Baby _I WILL KNOW_ and believe me I will make you wish you had Crowley on your backs even if this plan to help Cas goes smoother than it ever could." Dean threatened and shifter Dean swallowed hard.

"Hey man, we might even top up the tank for you" He laughed awkwardly shooting a side glance at shifter Sam.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys finally back! Had a lot of university work to focus on! Happy Christmas and New Year hope 2020 is great for you all.

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They waited an hour and fifteen minutes in total in their motel room that was just off the highway, the wait was agonising. Castiel had explained the plan to Laila, he made the phone call to the brothers and had the gun ready to kill them both. He had drilled the fact Laila had to stay out of this fight and hidden away into her brain so hard, she couldn't come in contact with the shifters, one wrong move and it would end bloody, even more bloody than intended. They past the time mainly in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence though, Laila was new to Earth and didn't know what it was to feel awkward. Cas on the other hand was more than aware of the sensation of being stuck in an awkward moment but right now he was so focused on his mission of killing his two best friends that he wasn't too bothered. Castiel stood at the window the entire time just waiting for that black Impala to pull up outside. Laila sat at the edge of one of the beds flicking through the TV; fascinated. She had even stumbled upon one station that US motels were famous for; Casa Erotica, to which she titled her head in confusion as she watched intently, "I'm confused. The baby sitter ordered her pizza with 'extra sausage' but the pizza man brought a plain pizza by mistake-" Cas cut her off as he glanced over his shoulder towards the TV.

"Ah, yes, I've seen this before, he makes up for the missing sausage" Cas replied, looking back keeping his focus out of the window, this was no time to be watching porn he had bigger things to worry about than the Pizza Man's sausage.

He heard a deep hum, it was so familiar to him. It was the hum of the engine of Dean's 1967 Chevrolet Impala. He focused on the entrance to the motel carpark and there she appeared, she drove right toward's Cas' room and the engine growled to a stop.

"They're here" Cas spoke with a hard swallow, his stomach was in knots.

Laila switched off the TV "Castiel, you're sure you can do this?" She asked as she stood behind him looking over his shoulder out the window at the Winchesters as they got out of the Impala.

_"__No"_ he thought to himself he'd never in his life wanted to step down from a task more, maybe he should just go back to heaven? Was this all really worth the hassle? "Yes" He replied; lying. "I have to" He added, his voice quivered as he spoke. He turned to face Laila, "Laila please hide away I don't want you getting involved it's too dangerous" He told her.

"This is for the best Castiel" She reminded him before she disappeared into the bathroom.

There was a knock on the door. "Cas?" Dean's deep voice called through it.

This was it. No going back now.

Cas opened the door and the brothers walked in.

"Sam, Dean" Cas spoke out loudly giving the two a wink which they returned.

"What's so important Cas? We were half way out the city" Dean told him impatiently.

"I'm sorry" Cas replied catching eye contact with Dean. He suddenly got an awful feeling in his gut, he couldn't go through with this…he knew these two stood before him were shapeshifters but he had a haunting thought in his mind that this could be the real Sam and Dean and the thought of actually killing them was unfathomable to him, but then the thought of leaving Earth and Sam and Dean forever and that thought was just as unfathomable.

"What is it Cas?" Sam urged.

"I've figured out a way I can stay down on Earth" He told them.

"What? That's great!" Sam's face grew the biggest smile.

"What is it?" Dean asked in disbelief.

Cas looked at Sam and then to Dean before he looked toward the ground, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry" He muttered before he held his hand out and the door slammed shut and locked instantly.

"Sorry?" Sam asked as his smile dropped.

Cas pulled out a gun from his trench coat and aimed it at Dean.

"Woah, What's going on?!" Dean demanded as he held his hands up, very uncharacteristic for the real Dean but luckily Laila didn't know them too well and the shifters had been told specifically not put up a fight.

Cas' hands were shaking uncontrollably. He'd thought about this moment nonstop since they decided on the plan, and for someone who doesn't sleep_ 'nonstop'_ really is a lot. He had come to the conclusion to kill Dean first, although he did share a more profound bond with Dean and he would be emotionally the hardest for Cas to kill but he didn't want Dean to watch his little brother die. Dean had spent his entire life protecting Sam and Cas just couldn't bring himself to kill him in front of Dean. If there was such thing as a 'nicer' order of killing a friend, this had to be it.

"I'm so sorry Dean" Cas closed his eyes and prepared to pull the trigger.

"Cas please don't do this" Dean begged.

Just as Cas was about to pull the trigger he heard a cry of pain; he knew it was Dean's, he'd heard it many times before. He opened his eyes to find Dean had an angel blade plunged through his chest from behind, blood poured from his mouth and splattered on the floor.

"NO!" Cas roared as Dean dropped to the ground revealing Laila was stood behind him holding the angel blade, "Laila what have you done!" Cas shouted as he dropped the gun; the shifter was dead.

"You were stalling Castiel" Laila replied, "I'm helping" she concluded as Castiel looked at the last remaining shifter warily.

"Laila, run" Cas warned her as shifter Sam looked down at his dead friend.

Shifter Sam pulled out an angel blade from his jacket which had the handle covered in some material, he lunged at Laila and managed to cut her across her chest, Laila fell to the ground wincing with the pain.

"Stop!" Cas shouted grabbing his attention.

Sam looked towards Castiel, "This is your fault!" He roared as he charged toward Cas with every intention of killing him.

Cas managed to grab Sam and held him in front of him, "Please don't do this, I don't want to kill you" Cas begged as he managed to push Sam away causing him to drop the angel blade. Cas quickly reached into his inner pocket of his trench to grab his angel blade but soon realised that the blade Sam had must have been his; he had no way of killing this shifter. Sam suddenly morphed into Cas and looked back at Laila, making sure that she was well aware of the fact that Castiel had lied to her, he morphed back into Sam to continue the fight, Sam was taller, stronger, a clear advantage over Castiel. He grabbed Cas and threw him to the ground, leaning over him as he repeatedly punched him in the face, all Cas could do was try and cover his face with his hands and except the blows. Sam reached out, grabbed his angel blade form the ground and lifted it high ready to plunge through Cas' chest. Cas closed his eyes tight and waited for death. Suddenly Sam's body dropped lifelessly on top of Cas'. Cas opened his eyes to find the shifter had a knife in his back and a familiar demon stood before him.

"Crowley?" Cas asked astonished.

"Looked like you could use some help" Crowley told him, "Iridium knife" added as he held his hand out to help Cas to his feet but within seconds Crowley flew across the room as was pinned up against the wall.

"Castiel." Laila stood before Cas who scrambled to his feet.

"Laila I-" Cas was cut off.

"You lied to me!" She shouted grasping tightly to her angel blade.

"I'm sorry, I can explain-" He was cut off again.

"And you're working with the king of Hell?!" She yelled as she grabbed him by his tie which began to strangle him.

"No, No I-" Cas struggled to breathe.

Laila threw him to the ground and stood over him as he tried to steady his breathing. She kneeled down in front of him and grabbed him by his jaw, she slammed his head back hard into the wall causing some of the plaster on the wall to crumble behind his head, "Lying Castiel, it's a human trait. Obviously the other angels were right, you're a lost cause" She spoke out as she brought her angel blade up to his throat and pinned it up against him looking deep into his blue eyes, his face covered with blood from his shifter beating.

"Then take him back upstairs, have him cleaning the floors for a bit to make up for it, I mean come on you gotta admire the guy's effort" Crowley spoke out, Laila turned and gestured towards him pinning him harder against the wall causing The King of Hell to call out in pain.

"Oh, no…" She turned back to Cas, "Not even that job is worth bringing him back for; he's no Angel, not anymore" Laila grabbed Cas' hair and again slammed his head back into the wall once again.

"No Laila, please, please don't do this, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll come back to Heaven, please let me come back to Heaven, I'll never come to Earth again" Cas begged as he fought in her grasp. Laila sliced across Cas' neck, just above his Adams apple and out poured his silver coloured grace which Laila collected in a small tube.

"Its too late" She spoke as she tied the tube of his grace around her neck, "I'll keep this with me so I will always have a piece of you with me in Heaven, which was how it was always meant to be" she told him, "Goodbye Castiel". She was gone.

Cas sat on the floor, feeling helpless, hopeless but most of all weak. Crowley who was now free from the wall looked over at him awkwardly.

"Crowley, I'm sorry about your shifter friends" Cas told him breathlessly keeping his head down, blood still pouring down his face from his open wounds.

"They weren't friends and don't worry I had every intention of killing them after this anyway" Crowley told him as he brushed off his suit, "I'm sorry that didn't go as planned for you" The Demon spoke sincerely as he stepped towards him, "Cas...Cas are you okay?" Crowley asked seeming genuinely concerned. Cas didn't reply, instead he just pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them.

Sam and Dean burst through the motel door, there was a pause while they quickly examined the mess of the room, "What the hell happened?!" Dean demanded.

"It turned into a dog's dinner is what happened" Crowley replied.

Sam and Dean looked at the dead shifters on the ground and Dean saw red making a beeline for The King of Hell, "What the hell happened?!" Dean roared as he grabbed Crowley and pinned him up against the wall.

"Laila happened" Crowley replied.

"Dean" Sam spoke out having spotted Cas on the floor but Dean ignored him.

"What do you mean 'Laila happened'?! Where's Cas?!" Dean shouted.

"Dean!" Sam called this time getting his attention.

"Cas" Dean spoke out surprised, he let go of Crowley who again dusted off his suit, "Hey, Cas, you good?" He asked as he took a step towards him, he shot a glance back at Crowley who gave him shake of his head answering that question for him.

"Cas what happened?" Sam asked carefully; he looked awful.

"Cas" Dean kneeled down beside him, "look at me man, what the hell happened? Where's Laila?" he put a hand on his shoulder.

Cas slowly looked up at him, "She's gone, back to Heaven" he told him, his voice was almost a whisper.

"Okay, that's good right? You're still here" Dean asked looking over his shoulder at Sam for a moment, "Those cuts look bad Cas, heal yourself up" Dean told him looking at the numerous cuts and blood that covered his friends face, it was hard to look at.

"...She, she took my grace Dean" Cas whispered.

Dean didn't know how to reply and for what seemed like the first time in his entire life, he was speechless. He stood up and glanced over at Sam who seemed to be in just as much shock as him.

"Then we get it back" Crowley spoke out in determination stepping forward towards the brothers.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Dean snapped as he spun on his heels to face him.

"Well, when we get back to the bunker-" Dean cut Crowley off quickly.

"Oh no, no way! You're not coming back with us!" Dean spoke sternly.

"We had a deal" Crowley replied.

"Yeah and look what that deal got us! Screw your deal Crowley! Screw you!" Dean yelled.

Crowley took a step towards him, "I want to help Cas" he told him.

"I said screw you!" Dean roared a she grabbed Cas' angel blade and charged toward him to plunge it through his chest but Crowley had disappeared before he reached him, "Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted as he threw the blade to the ground angrily.

An awkward silence fell in the room for a moment as his younger brother watched his outburst, "Dean Crowley's right" Sam spoke out before he turned to their graceless angel friend, "Cas we're gonna get your grace back okay? You've got it back before we can do it again" Sam told him with a friendly smile as he kneeled down beside him, "Hey at least you're staying down here, you're just human now, welcome to the club" Sam tried to lighten the situation.

"I used to be apart of a much better club" Cas replied as he wiped some blood from his face and winced at the pain; he hadn't missed pain.

Dean shook his head angrily, "I'm going on a beer run" he stormed out. He needed to clear his head. Maybe they'd been too optimistic hoping this plan would work and why he trusted Crowley he'd never know. This damn plan couldn't have gone worse. If he were to be honest with himself he blamed himself for all of this, heck he wasn't even there to help Cas fight Laila, or the shifters…some friend he was. This was the last thing Dean wanted for Cas, he would have rather he got sent back to Heaven than become human again but right now all he could think to do was get drunk.


	8. Chapter 8

And that's exactly what he did do, he drank way into the early hours of the morning before he could even pluck up the courage to go back; nothing like a bit of Dutch courage. He slammed his car door shut and staggered his way over to the motel room door which he banged hard on, with no courtesy for the time and the fact his brother or the neighbouring rooms may be sleeping, "Sammy! Open up, it's me!" He shouted smacking his fist against the door over and over.

Sam opened the door and Dean stumbled into the room but managed to balance himself before he fell completely to the ground.

"How was the beer run huh?" Sam spoke out sarcastically as he closed the door and watched over his very drunken brother who didn't reply, "Dean I called you" Sam muttered angrily.

"I know, I ignored you" Dean slurred as he opened up the fridge.

"I was worried something had happened to you" Sam told him.

Dean groaned angrily as he slammed the fridge door shut, "Ugh! Why's there no freakin' beer?!" He roared.

"Because you left to go on a beer run!" Sam roared back matching his tone.

"Oh yeah" Dean laughed slightly. He did have every intention of going on a beer run but was distracted by a bar that had a sign outside that said 'happy hour' which was ironic considering he felt anything but happy at the time but he sure did take advantage of the two for one drinks.

"Thanks for leaving me to clean up this mess alone by the way" Sam started, Dean frowned up at him, "I had to get rid of the shifter's bodies, I had to deal with Cas Dean he's in a bad way, I did the best I could to patch up his face and his head, he's in a lot of pain, I'm pretty sure he's got a broken cheek bone, you know I actually considered taking him to the hospital but you took baby on the _'beer run'_" he told him, "did you drive her back in this state?" He asked as he looked out the window to find the Impala was outside and surprisingly in one piece but very poorly parked, "How much did you have to drink Dean?" Sam spat out.

Dean shrugged leaning back against the sink next to the empty fridge, "I dunno, I bought like five beers" he told his younger brother who looked at him in disbelief, Dean had had five beers before just to get ready for a hunt there was no way he was _this_ drunk off five beers, "but it was happy hour" Dean added and everything made sense, "I had a few games of quarters with the hot bartender's hot sister"

Sam nodded, "I'm guessing she had a good aim?" He asked.

"Yeah, well luckily her boyfriend didn't, he pulled a gun out when he saw me drinking with her" Dean told Sam, "for the record I thought she was single" he added holding up his hands.

"What? He shot at you? What happened?" Sam's anger suddenly changed to concern.

"I left" Dean shrugged Sam rolled his eyes at how unfazed his older brother was. Dean looked at Sam's laptop that was on the table which had over twenty tabs open, "What's all this?" He asked leaning down to have a look.

"Research" Sam replied.

"You found a case?" Dean asked standing back up.

"Research on getting Cas' grace back Dean" Sam told him.

Dean shook his head, "It's his own fault, you know I warned him about him losing his grace, I told him being human is shitty, he should've just gone back up to heaven when he had the chance the stupid son of a b-" Dean was cut off as Cas walked out of the bathroom drying his hair with a towel. He'd showered to clean off his blood that had dried on his face, he had a cut in his eyebrow above his right eye which was swollen right down to his cheek bone which shined red like an apple, it was so bad he squinted barely able to see through it, he had a slit on the bridge of his nose and his bottom lip was fat and already bruised. He still had his blood stained shirt on but it was open which showed some more bruising around his ribs. He had his suit pants on and no shoes, his trench coat, blazer and tie were thrown on one of the two beds.

Dean's anger dropped when he saw the state of Cas, "How are you doing?" He asked. He felt sobriety hit him hard.

"Fine" Cas replied, humans were strange in the fact they would often say something contradictory to how they clearly looked and felt in order to keep the conversation from falling awkward.

"Good" Dean nodded as he looked back at Sam, "does he need to go to hospital?" He asked. Sam looked back at Cas as he considered it. Dean walked towards him to get a better look at his friend's busted up face but Cas held up his hand as he reached him.

"That won't be necessary, I'm sure this looks worse than it is" he announced as threw the towel over his shoulder and allowed it to hang, he slowly walked past the brothers to the sink, poured himself a glass of water and leaned himself back against the counter as he downed his glass, the brothers watched him almost mesmerised. There was something different about Cas, something ironically human about him, even the way he moved was so much more _normal_ not that he was noticeably not normal when he was an angel but his movements seemed much more natural than they ever were before. Angel Cas barely ever _leaned. _

"What, did Laila take the stick from up your ass as well as your grace?" Dean asked causing Sam to smirk.

Cas frowned at him in confusion, "I didn't have a-"

"It's a joke Cas" Sam told him.

"So, you're human again. Do we call you Steve, or Clarence this time?" Dean asked, this time Cas picked up on his joking tone.

"Cas is fine" he replied. He looked up at Dean and rolled his eyes, "Go on Dean, hit me with the 'I told you so' I know you must have the urge" he sighed looking down at his bare feet.

"I'm not gonna do that Cas" Dean told him catching the graceless angel by surprise, he looked up at Dean, "I'm glad you're still with us. I'm just sorry that we couldn't be there to kick Laila's ass and kill those shifters for beating you up so bad, you know I never thought I'd say these words but I'm glad Crowley showed up to save your ass"

"Perhaps you were a little hard on him" Cas suggested.

"I wouldn't go that far" Dean disagreed.

"Well, you're right Dean. I don't know whether it's my agonisingly sore body or some deeper meaning but I do wish Laila had taken me back to Heaven" Cas told the brothers, "I was just blinded by the thought of never seeing you two again…now I've come to the realisation that this could be my form for the rest of my life which giving the age of my vessel is statistically only about forty to fifty years from now and I-" Cas cut himself off, "I suppose I'm going to have to get used to it aren't I?" He shrugged hoping to seem optimistic.

"Here Cas" Sam handed him some pills, "for the pain" he added having seen Cas tilt his head in confusion.

"Thanks" he accepted them gratefully.

Dean was still taken aback by how beat up Cas was, silently kicking himself for allowing this to happen it made him sick to his stomach. He didn't know who to take his anger out on; Laila? He could hunt her down and stick an angel blade through her heart but what good would that do? She was just doing her stupid job given to her by stupid heaven, maybe Crowley? Well he's away in the dust and heck at least he was there to save Cas' ass...unlike him. He'd found the root of his anger, it was for himself...some friend he was.

"Cas..." Dean started as he watched the graceless angel down his painkillers. He froze, not knowing where to go from there, both his younger brother and Cas watched on waiting for him to continue.

"...yes?" Cas replied haven gulped his second pill.

"Look man I, I'm just sorry this all happened." Dean started.

"It wasn't your fault Dean" Cas told him, "I shouldn't have overcomplicated things, it was my own fault, this was the fate I was destined to since the moment Laila found me" He explained.

"Whatever Cas, look I'm just sorry for not having your back, we sent two monsters in there to put up a fake fight with you in front of an angel who also had it out for you and basically just stood back and watched-" Cas cut him off with a sigh.

"Dean-" but Dean butted in.

"Let me finish. This, seeing what they did to you" he pointed to his beat up face, "I'll never forgive myself for, you're family Cas, we should've had your back whether it blew our cover or not and I'm just so glad it stopped before it got any worse" Dean told him sincerely, Cas smiled and looked towards the ground awkwardly, "that dint in the wall there, that's from the back of your head?" Dean asked seeing the dry blood in his friends hair, Cas nodded sheepishly, "lemme see Cas it might need stitches" Dean stepped towards him but Cas stepped away.

"I'm fine" he told him shooting a glance over at Sam too. Although he was outnumbered in the fight he was still slightly embarrassed by how badly he lost, "I'm fine, it's almost stopped bleeding now and I've took my pills, I'm just-" he stopped as he let out a yawn, "I think I'm tired" he forgot humans needed sleep. He rubbed his one good eye and then ran his hand through his hair; he felt exhausted. He remembered feeling this for the first time the last time he lost his grace.

"Being human is gonna take some getting used to again Cas but it's not so bad, and you've got us yeah?" Sam smiled reminding him that he most definitely wasn't alone in this. Cas returned the smile but his was clearly more forced. He made his way over to the couch, sat down and began to puff up the cushions.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"It's late, I should sleep" Cas replied still puffing the coushins.

"Cas take one of the beds I'll have the couch" Dean made his way over to him to shoo him away.

"I'll be fine Dean" Cas replied looking up at him.

"Look man, you think your body hurts now? Try sleeping on a crappy motel couch for the night" Dean told him.

Cas thought of how uncomfortable the couch was just to sit on, never mind lay on all night long, especially with how sore his ribs were.

"Cas, your stuff is already on this bed you've basically claimed it, take this one" Sam pointed to Cas' trench.

Cas eased himself to his feet, "But…Dean-" the older Winchester cut him off.

"I can sleep anywhere Cas, now take the bed before I bust your other eye" Dean threatened but Cas knew by now he was joking, he smiled at him gratefully and walked over to the bed as Sam and Dean got ready to sleep.

Cas picked up his blazer and tie and lay them over a chair beside the bathroom. He then picked up his trench coat and examined it, there was still some blood on it from his earlier battering, it was slightly creased from where it had been laying on the bed. He brushed the creases out with the palm of his hand, with a sigh he made his way over to the wardrobe beside his bed and placed the coat on a hanger. He gave it one more look before he shut the wardrobe door and carefully lay himself down on the bed. Dean had already fallen asleep laying across the couch whereas Sam was in the bathroom brushing his teeth.

Cas stared up at the ceiling taking steady sharp breaths; the weight of him laying down really took its toll on his surely broken ribs and the newly dried cuts on the back of his head from Laila bashing it into the wall didn't care much for the pillow he rested on. He couldn't help but wish he still had his grace, he'd actually never wanted anything more. He rethought what had happened earlier on in the day over and over again, each with a different ending; each with a better ending…He sighed deeply, he didn't know the feeling of what it was like to tear up but he guessed this was it. Hearing Sam finishing up in the bathroom snapped him from his thoughts. He closed his eyes as Sam entered room - to stop himself from shedding a tear- Sam switched off the light in the bathroom as he noticed his snoring brother. Sam knew Dean could always fall asleep fast, and even faster when he'd had a drink as most do, but Cas hadn't had a drink.

"Cas?" Sam called quietly, Cas decided not to respond to him, it had been a long day for all three of them and the Winchester's could do with some rest, "Cas, you awake?" He called again, at little louder this time. Cas didn't respond. Sam turned off the light and got himself into bed figuring Cas must have fallen asleep.

Once he was confident Sam was settled in the bed beside his, Cas opened up his eyes and again stared at the ceiling, this time in the dark. It was going to be a long night.


End file.
